Gwinnett Place Mall (Abandoned | Documentary)

[@robert_roland63]

This mall was my old childhood stomping grounds. We spent Halloween there just to get away from the trick or treaters until they came to the mall to do just that. I have spent many times in various stores that were there like the WB Store, Disney Store and even the stores that sold music and books. The food courts were nice and it was sad to see the mall deteriorate after the Mall of Georgia and Sugarloaf (formerly Discover) Mills were built nearby. That mall will always be a happy memory for what it was. As for the development, 20 years is a long time and people might have moved on to where this may not succeed. If there’s a way they could develop it faster or even try to make something similar to Atlantic Station it might work. Time will tell, but I doubt I will see it in my lifetime.

[@monp.4903]

This was my mall growing up. Mall of GA killed it, all the locals know it!

[@AccioPadfoot12]

I first saw the mall when the first post of what would be Davison's went up. The ground was all cleared and lots of construction equipment was on site. I got hired at Sears and worked there from the time they opened to around 1986. I moved away and came back to the area in 2021, gutted to see that the mall had closed. So much of my young adulthood was shaped there. Thank you for the images and history.

[@BRFilmStudios]

Nice!!! I got to visit Gwinnett Place back in July to film some footage and it was so incredibly surreal to be there in person. So sad to see what happened to it…

[@animelover-ef1eg]

Please let us know when y'all are filming at Gwinnett place mall

[@sleapyy]

@@animelover-ef1eg you can't even get in bro they have securtiy and even if u can make it in, theres literally nothing to see just an empty place with white walls

[@Lantana1]

Nice reporting. I worked there in 1989 at the height of mall culture. I knew everybody in the mall and it was a blast! Happy hour at Ruby Tuesdays was the best.

[@RetroPizzaFan]

Looking forward to this video!

[@undergroundretail]

You’re in for a treat!

[@karrenwebb3341]

Lived in Gwinnett for over 35 years. Saw the rise and fall of Gwinnett Place. When the Mall of Georgia was under construction, I knew that GP would loose customers and slowly die.

[@MrJestyler]

Gwinnett place, like most other malls that die, died from a combination of factors. Mall of GA opened in 1999 and same owner Simon stopped investing into Gwinnett place, slowly but surely stores started leaving the mall and when JCPenney and Parisian pulled up anchor than dominoes started toppling faster. Crime in the area picked up quickly around turn of century and store after store even outside of mall started closing. Online shopping was definitely a dagger to the mall but it has been to every mall. I lived in Gwinnett for 41 years and remember when pleasant hill was a 2 lane road. Gwinnett place was a large mobile home park. Went to local schools around mall and most people I know skipped school day mall opened. It was a huge economic driver for area and couldn’t grow fast enough. Like a cancer when it started dying so did everything else around it. Makes me really sad to know the status the mall once held and now it’s just a memory. 😢

[@nole8923]

Great historical video of Gwinnett Place mall. Ace’s Adventures did an outstanding video on this mall and got permission to go inside at night a few years ago to film it in all its glory with all the lights on in the center court. It’s an absolutely marvelous video which show how stunningly beautiful Gwinnett Place mall was.

[@partytimer1776]

Hi! I just found your channel and wanted to say you're awesome! I love how you tell the facts in a straight forward way, but also like your just having a conversation :) Please could you talk more about old abandoned malls like Rolling acres, Randall Park, Eastland, etc (There's alot lol) 😁

[@markwiygul6356]

The mega-renovation that took place at Gwinnett Place Mall made it far less of an inviting place for leisure shoppers to shop at. I well remember the beautiful interiors, winding staircases, majestic fountains to relax near . . . those were popular all over America during the early 80s, but the 90s took them all out during expensive renovations. - I have a couple of theories as to why they spent $millions to renovate the mall down. (a) They wanted to compete better with big box stores simplistic approach of getting as many shoppers as possible in and out as quickly as possible, and not offer a park like or alluring leisure environment that encouraged strolling around endlessly in amazement with the environment rather than what the individual businesses located there had to offer. (b) the powers that $be were actively steering culture away from malls in general because they consumed too much leisure time as weekend or holiday getaway spaces to stroll around and socialize with strangers. This theoretically hampers the overall economy as people have less time for work shifts and less time for overtime working efforts. Once freed time is available to general public (who were then imagined to rely on in-out box stores) then the public would eventually see their new free time as opportunities to spend more hours per week working. This works under the same economic principle of fast-food, processed foods, prepared box meals and automatic appliances, dish washers and washing machines etc., which allowed for the elimination of the need for a domestic partner to always be home cooking, cleaning, and preparing time-consuming meals from basic staple ingredients (old fashioned dishes rather than the ready mix meals or picking up dinners through drive through windows). so cultural engineering towards a more efficient lifestyle by secret yet well calculated calculus of eliminating the positive vibes of leisure malls throughout the nation by making them "efficient" which in turn could still not compete with big box in-out stores. My vote (b) because (a) would mean the top planning minds actually are wrong headed and ridiculous minded

[@Dogman2605]

Man the mind flyer really fed this place up with eggo waffles! 😂 stranger things reference joke!!!!

[@rowanhudson27]

The new plans kinda hurt, If I had a saying in what was to be done for the mall, would be to restore it and have a goal to fill it up with modern day retail stores and restaurants. I think that if this happened it would become a real tourist attraction and have great business, It would also encourage people to come by and shop because of all of the history and celebrities who have step foot inside.

[@t200b-i7k]

As the years went on, I became more fatigued by and fearful of malls. I don't miss them.

[@PurplePuppy2006]

Ahh Garnett Place mall the mall I’ve only been to once back in 2015 or 2016 I still remembered when the Sears and JCPenny was still open Belk once operated at this mall but I think closed in 2013. But yeah this was a popular mall in Georgia best known for being Starcourt Mall for Stranger Things. The Macys I’m pretty sure is still open and might be part of the new development.

[@nathanwoodruff9422]

_"Ahh Garnett Place"_ Gwinnett Place mall. Named after the original signer of the US Constitution... Button Gwinnett. For which the County of Gwinnett is also named after where the mall resides in that county.

[@ZinniaOriente]

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[@ThinkingBrother1]

I remember when me and my ex girlfriend used to shop up there. it was a great place,but you can tell that it was slowly Declining.....

[@nole8923]

It wasn’t just mall of Georgia and Sugarloaf mills mall that killed Gwinnett Place mall. Increased crime and changing demographics played a part, but the biggest contributor to killing Gwinnett Place mall was Gwinnett county’s refusal to do anything about the congestion on Pleasant hill road which basically choked Gwinnett Place mall to death. It got so bad that locals didn’t want to deal with it just to get to the mall.

[@Aqua-vs5rj]

I'm just curious, my sister is huge into Northpoints history and has been researching it as its our local mall, where did you find the construction picture of Northpoint? I couldn't find it in the links.

[@PizzaMan-ItsaRomethingeveryday]

Another victim of over malling 😮 I truly miss the malls and their water fountains ⛲️ them days are nearly gone forever

[@undergroundretail]

I miss them too! Especially when you could throw coins in them.

[@nathanwoodruff9422]

Berkmar High School band played for the opening ceremony. How do I know... I graduated from Berkmar High School.

[@undergroundretail]

Interesting Facts!! Never would've known that.

[@avarrius]

Dang. Phipps was considered to be the suburbs in 1992

[@nathanwoodruff9422]

I moved to Gwinnett county in 1976. Pleasant hill road was a dirt road up until 1981. My mom lived at the end of Pleasant Hill road where it met Lawrenceville highway or US 29. Berkmar high school is also on that corner as my mom's house backed up to the parking lot of the high school. I still have my mom's house there. The majority of Gwinnett County was dirt roads up until about then as well. Across the street from where Gwinnett Place mall was to be built was a 18 wheel truck warehouse and nothing more. On the other side of the interstate of where the mall was to be built was a truck stop where a scene from Smokey and the Bandit 2 was filmed. Me and a bunch of friends rode bicycles up to that truck stop to watch the filming. It was announced in the newspaper that filming was going to take place there. I believe this was in 1980 or 1981.

[@doctorwhofan6340]

I went there back in like 2020 because im a huge strangerthings fsn and dont live to far from there and like it was so sad to see it fallen like it was

[@seand67]

Too many malls in Atlanta

[@undergroundretail]

Agreed!

[@PurplePuppy2006]

Can you do the history of Town Center At Cobb next

[@WoozyPolarBear]

Had my first kiss with a girl when I was a teenager on a date at this mall. I moved to Denmark when I was an adult, but I did drive by the mall in 2022, and it's a complete ghost town. Saw North Point Mall in Alpharetta on the same day, and it looks like it's heading to the same fate.

[@BlainFurgerson]

It is a companion of young people's fashion trends kislux

[@tonywestvirginia]

Online killed the mall's

[@undergroundretail]

Facts!

[@WyomingGuy82201]

Global Village won't.

[@toooldtocare9416]

Refurbished for around 90 million in the early 2000's. 2007 downturn came. Auctioned for around 8 million. Gwinnett County Gov. paid 40 million for it in 2020 dollars. SUCKER!!!!

[@SheereenLychee]

Black Birkin bag, this is the first good choice I made. I can afford a Kelly bag in any color. If I were 25, I'd probably buy it. But now I consciously don't want to date a woman who has a Kelly and a Birkin. After coming into contact with kislux , I am more willing to invest the money saved in my own growth.